Despite a long race, voters are undecided

In 11 days, Americans will elect a new president to lead the nation during what have become increasingly turbulent times.

The more than 18 months that have led up to this moment have been filled with candidates vying for voter attention and support through ads, political rallies, surrogates and online campaigns. At the center of much of this courting has been the youth vote. Time magazine went so far as to declare 2008 the "Year of the Youth Vote."

Candidates have used technology popular with college-age voters including social networking sites such as Facebook and tools such as text messaging to reach out to voters.

But despite the saturation of campaign news and rhetoric, some young voters have yet to decide, while others are passionate about their commitment to either Democratic nominee Barack Obama or Republican nominee John McCain.

While signs of support for both candidates have been around campus for weeks by way of bumper stickers, T-shirts and MySpace profiles, this week was the first opportunity I had to listen to students express their reasons for that support.

As the lab assistant for the Texas A&M University-Kingsville student newspaper, The South Texan, I sat in on the editorial board discussion among a dozen students about whom the paper will endorse in next week's issue.

The most surprising thing to me was that there still was an undecided voter. That undecided voter determined the endorsement's outcome. (I won't give anything away, but the issue comes out Tuesday in print and online.)

That discussion made me realize the importance of one vote, and that the decision of enough undecided voters on Nov. 4 significantly could impact the election.

After a civil dialogue, the students voted by secret ballot and if the result is any indication of what to expect Nov. 4, the race for the White House will be a nail-biter. In the end the students voted 6-5 with one undecided voter. Had that one vote been decided, the outcome could have been a tie.

While the closeness of the vote surprised me, what surprised me the most is that there are Americans who haven't chosen a side in this election.

Kristie Vela, the undecided voter in the group, said she understands the importance of this historic election, but said neither the individual candidates, nor their stances on the issues, has motivated her to pick one. She doesn't take her responsibility as a voter lightly -- that's why she's taking her time.

After three presidential debates, a vice presidential debate and months of hard campaigning, the time has come for Americans to exercise their most important responsibility.

Study the candidates; there's a wealth of information available about both. And whatever decision you make, be sure to make it count by going to the polls and placing that vote.

Former staff reporter and Corpus Christi native Adriana Garza is pursuing a master's degree in political science at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Contact her at adriana.garza@tamuk.edu